I ran.
Bell kept pace.
Two agents followed.
The elevator took too long, so we used the stairs.
Six flights.
I barely felt them.
Daniel was standing outside Sophie's room when we reached the oncology floor.
He looked wild.
Not frightened.
Beyond frightened.
The bed was empty.
Her blanket lay half on the floor.
The IV line had been disconnected cleanly.
Not torn.
Not accidentally pulled.
“Where is she?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I went to get ice.”
“How long?”
“Three minutes.”
“Who was here?”
“A nurse.”
“Which nurse?”
“I don’t know.”
Bell turned toward security.
“Lock every exit.”
“They already are.”
“Then lock them again.”
I entered the room.
“Sophie?”
As though she might be hiding.
Bathroom.
Empty.
Closet.
Empty.
The purple streaks in her hair had begun fading.
One strand lay across the pillow.
I picked it up.
Daniel came behind me.
“This is my fault.”
“No.”
“I left.”
“For ice.”
“I left.”
“Stop.”
“I promised I wouldn’t.”
“Daniel.”
He looked at me.
“If you collapse now, I lose both of you.”
That reached him.
He nodded.
Barely.
Bell entered.
“Security footage shows a staff member taking Sophie through the service corridor.”
“Who?”
“Badge says Ellen Price.”
Dr. Shah, arriving behind him, said, “We don’t have an Ellen Price.”
Of course we didn’t.
“Camera?”
“Face partially covered.”
“Where did they go?”
“Freight elevator.”
Bell’s radio crackled.
Basement.
I started toward the door.
He blocked me.
“No.”
“That’s my daughter.”
“And I need you here.”
“Move.”
“Claire.”
Daniel took my hand.
“Let them clear it.”
I hated him for being right.
For thirty seconds.
Then a minute.
Then two.
Bell listened to his radio.
His face changed.
“What?”
“They found the wheelchair.”
“Where?”
“Loading dock.”
“Empty?”
“Yes.”
My knees weakened.
Daniel caught me.
Bell kept listening.
“Vehicle?”
“White medical transport van left seven minutes ago.”
“Plate?”
“Stolen.”
I turned toward him.
“You had the hospital locked down.”
“Someone inside helped.”
NorthStar.
Samuel.
Nathan.
Voss.
Pick a monster.
Any monster.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A text.
MOM I’M OKAY.
I stopped breathing.
Another message appeared.
DON’T LET THEM USE GRANDMA.
Daniel read over my shoulder.
“What does that mean?”
Then a photograph arrived.
Sophie.
Alive.
Sitting in a vehicle.
No visible injuries.
Terrified eyes.
Beside her was Nathan Vale.
Daniel swore.
A final message.
I DID NOT TAKE HER. VOSS DID. I GOT HER OUT.
Bell took the phone.
“Trace it.”
An agent started working.
I called.
Nathan answered.
“Claire.”
“Put Sophie on.”
“Mom?”
Her voice broke me.
“Sophie.”
“I’m okay.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Where are you?”
“Nathan says not to say.”
I closed my eyes.
“Is he threatening you?”
“No.”
“Did he touch you?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mom.”
Her voice sharpened.
“He got me away from the fake nurse.”
Nathan returned.
“We have maybe four minutes.”
“Bring her back.”
“I can’t.”
“Bring my daughter back.”
“Voss has people inside the hospital.”
“He says you do.”
“Of course he does.”
“Everyone says everyone else is lying.”
“Then believe Sophie.”
I swallowed.
“What happened?”
“A woman dressed as a nurse disconnected her IV and took her downstairs.”
“Who?”
“NorthStar security contractor.”
“How do you know?”
“I recognized her.”
“Why were you there?”
“I came for Laura’s sample.”
At least he admitted it.
“You stole it.”
“No. Voss did.”
“Then why come?”
“To stop him leaving with it.”
“And you found Sophie.”
“Yes.”
“Convenient.”
“Claire, listen.”
His voice became urgent.
“Voss didn’t come to the hospital to talk to you. He came because the archive was being transferred here.”
“What does Sophie have to do with it?”
“He needs a living comparison.”
I felt sick.
“For what?”
“Laura’s untreated tissue. your corrected profile. Sophie’s failed vector.”
Three generations.
Again.
Always the lineage.
“What is he trying to do?”
“Build a commercially viable correction.”
Daniel heard.
His face changed.
“You said NorthStar shut the program down.”
“They shut Samuel down.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“They never shut Hearth down.”
Sophie spoke in the background.
“Mom?”
“I’m here.”
“Can Daniel hear me?”
He leaned toward the phone.
“I’m here, bug.”
“I knew you would be.”
His eyes filled.
“Where are you?”
“Nathan says—”
“Don’t tell us if it puts you in danger.”
She went quiet.
Then whispered, “I’m scared.”
Daniel pressed his fist against his mouth.
“I know.”
“Kevin hurts.”
Dr. Shah moved closer.
“How badly, Sophie?”
“My head feels full.”
The swelling.
She needed hospital care.
Dr. Shah spoke into the phone.
“Nathan, she needs immediate evaluation.”
“I know.”
“Then bring her back.”
“I’m taking her somewhere secure.”
“No. You are not her physician.”
“I know.”
“You already withheld care once.”
Silence.
That hit him.
Dr. Shah continued.
“Do not do it again.”
Nathan exhaled.
“Give me ten minutes.”
“For what?”
“To lose the people following us.”
The call ended.
Bell cursed.
The trace had failed.
Daniel punched the wall.
Once.
Hard.
Then immediately looked ashamed.
“I’m sorry.”
Nobody cared about the wall.
Eric appeared at the end of the corridor.
“What happened?”
I looked at him.
“Your old company took Sophie.”
His face emptied.
“What?”
“Nathan says Voss ordered it.”
“No.”
“Stop saying no.”
“Voss wouldn’t—”
“You don’t know him.”
Eric froze.
That sentence had been his defense for days.
Now it turned against him.
Bell stepped toward him.
“Can NorthStar track its old transport fleet?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Central logistics.”
“Do you still know the system?”
“No.”
Bell stared.
Eric corrected himself.
“I might.”
Five minutes later we were in a hospital conference room with three laptops.
Eric entered an old NorthStar routing portal.
His credentials failed.
He tried another access path.
Failed.
Then he typed a legacy emergency code.
The screen changed.
Bell looked at him.
“How do you know that?”
“I wrote part of the old routing system.”
Another hidden piece.
I was too tired to be surprised.
A map appeared.
Vehicle pings.
Most were inactive.
One medical transport van had reappeared twelve minutes earlier.
Then disappeared again.
Last location: industrial district north of the hospital.
Eric zoomed in.
His face changed.
“What?”
“I know that building.”
“NorthStar?”
“No.”
He looked at Bell.
“Samuel.”
The property was registered under an old research subsidiary.
A backup laboratory.
Facility 19.
Bell mobilized teams.
Then another message reached my phone.
This one from Sophie.
A photograph of a concrete hallway.
A handwritten sign on a door.
19.
Nathan had taken her exactly where Eric predicted.
Daniel grabbed his coat.
“I’m going.”
Bell said, “No.”
Daniel turned.
“You can arrest me later.”
Eric stood.
“I’m coming too.”
“No,” I said.
He looked at me.
“You need someone who knows the building.”
“You said you’d never been there.”
“I lied.”
Of course.
Daniel stared at him.
“When?”
“NorthStar sent me there twice.”
“What was inside?”
Eric looked at me.
“Children.”
The word silenced everyone.
“You saw them?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Eleven years ago.”
Before Sophie was born.
“What condition?”
“I don’t know. Hospital beds. monitors.”
“And you stayed with NorthStar.”
Eric closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
I could barely look at him.
“Why?”
“Because Voss told me they were clinical-trial patients.”
“And you believed him.”
“I chose to.”
The distinction mattered.
Too late.
But it mattered.
Bell’s radio crackled.
Teams were approaching Facility 19.
Then my phone rang again.
Nathan.
I answered.
“Where is Sophie?”
“With me.”
“Put her on.”
“No time.”
Gunfire sounded through the phone.
I stood.
“What’s happening?”
“NorthStar found us.”
Sophie screamed somewhere behind him.
Daniel grabbed my shoulder.
“Nathan!”
His voice came back strained.
“There’s a lower laboratory.”
“What?”
“Samuel kept emergency materials here.”
“What materials?”
“The original vectors.”
Another gunshot.
Then Nathan said the words that changed everything.
“Claire, Voss isn’t trying to kidnap Sophie.”
“What is he doing?”
“He’s trying to erase her.”
The call went dead.
Click here to continue reading: PART 12: Inside Facility 19, Claire Found Sophie Beside the Last Surviving Children of Hearth and Learned What NorthStar Intended to Destroy
The Test Result Made No Sense Until One Terrified Father Pointed at the Man His Daughter Called Dad
Part 11 of 28
